Tag Archives: False Christ

A few months ago we revealed that Emmanuel TV declared TB Joshua to be the “messiah of our times“, now they’re back with a man naming him “Jesus of this generation” during a service on the 5th January. What makes it even more interesting is that earlier in the service, a man was corrected by the Emmanuel TV presenter for claiming that the anointed water would cure you, the presenter said there was no power in the anointed water, but it was the power of Jesus working through the water (which, as we’ve pointed out before, makes the anointed water pointless). This clearly shows that the presenters are ready to correct certain mistakes, so why do they repeatedly leave the messianic claims uncontested? Both clips are included in the video below:

After posting the “messiah of our times” video, we were amazed that most of the TB Joshua followers actually supported the claim. This is most likely why people are not corrected for blasphemies like this, because SCOAN supports them too.

Sometimes on TB Joshua Watch, the comments are more illuminating than the actual post. Never more so than in our last one where we exposed a video of a lady claiming 3 times on Emmanuel TV that TB Joshua is the “messiah of our time” without rebuke. If you had asked us to predict the kind of comments this post would receive, we might have guessed people would claim it was just a misguided comment made in the heat of the moment, or perhaps question whether it was Emmanuel TV’s responsibility to vet every statement made in a testimony. What we weren’t prepared for was the majority of TB Joshua followers actually supporting the lady. Here are some samples:

I love my jesus and his choosen one tb joshua

[it] was the holy spirit in that lady who cofessed that tb joshua is the messiah of our time.

tb joshua confess with his own mouth that he is the messiah and acknowledge that the same spirit rose jesus from the dead dwells in him

WE FEEL SO GOOD ABOUT WHAT WE SAID THAT TBJ IS THE MESSIAH OF THIS GENERATION

T.B Joshua is the comforter christ was talking about read your bible very well (Note from the Editor: If you read your bible very well, you’d know that this comforter is named as the Holy Spirit (John 14:26))

BRAVO TBJ MAY YOU BE THE MEESSIAH OF THIS GENERATION IN JEUS NAME

TB Joshua is the Messiah have u forgotten the 2000 years occurrence, Moses, Elijah, Jesus and T.B Joshua are Messiah…

In 2 Peter it says “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies” (2 Peter 2a). This is precisely what we appear to be witnessing here. TB Joshua isn’t publicly claiming to be the messiah of our time (as far as we know), but the way his ministry presents him evidently leads many to this conclusion, even the majority of his supporters if the sample set of our commenters is taken seriously. This lady was not the first person to call TB Joshua a messiah, and by leaving these claims unchallenged, it would appear SCOAN are secretly bringing in destructive heresies.

In the passage below we see what a real man of God does in similar circumstances:

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. (Acts 14:11-15)

A reader recently sent us an extremely disturbing video. The video was from Emmanuel TV, and showed a woman testifying to her recent deliverance thanks to the Anointed Water. In the clip below she calls TB Joshua the “messiah of our time” 3 times, and the interviewer makes no attempt to correct this.

TB Joshua is responsible for what is broadcast on his TV channel, the fact that a statement like this has been made not once, not twice, but three times without being challenged should be a serious concern to all supporters of Emmanuel TV, SCOAN or TB Joshua. By broadcasting it they are supporting it. If they don’t support the statement, then we should expect a full and frank retraction.

The following article was previously posted on TB Joshua Watch nearly 2 years ago. It examines the warnings from scripture about false christs, and asks whether TB Joshua is one. Since this article was published, some keen followers of TB Joshua have strengthened our case by outright claiming he is a messiah, a message we believe originates from SCOAN themselves.

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matt 24:24)

Most TB Joshua supporters will immediately raise their hackles at the above verse. It has been used against him several times before, most notably in the Deception of the age video. In this post, we will look at several reasons why some may consider TB Joshua a false Christ.

What is a false Christ?

The original greek word used in the verse above is pseudochristos. The first part of the word (pseudo) refers to something that is false, fraudulent, or pretending to be something it is not. The second half (christos) literally means “anointed one”, and gives us the word “Christ”. A false Christ is anyone who takes the place of Christ as a mediator between man and God. The bible tells us “there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). We believers can have a direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we don’t need a priest, a man of God, a deliverer – we have Christ, who is all those things to us and more.

In the following paragraphs we will examine some evidence that we believe shows that TB Joshua’s ministry takes on a “christ like” position in the lives of his followers.

Ex disciple Gareth reports that “A lot of the time in a disciples life is spent studying his “notes”, that is TB Joshua’s writings. Any visitor to the church will testify to seeing disciples reading and copying out these notes into the early hours of the morning. Disciples regard these notes as equal in authority to the Bible”, Giles talks about the TB Joshua’s “quotable quotes” which disciples are expected to season their speech with. In his sermon “With such power”, TB Joshua himself says “In order to exercise such power, the man of God must be infallible. The baptism of the Holy Spirit gives this infallibility. Whatever he says is always complete and correct; whatever he writes is infallibly accurate.” This view is clearly supported by avid supporter and commenter on this site Soe, who tells us that “every word [TB Joshua] speaks is spirit-filled- and words become Gods word when they are affected by the Holyspirit”. (link)

He is the healer

Before his fans cry out “but he is constantly saying ‘I am not the healer, but I know the healer’”, let’s look at the reality.

The big craze amongst TB Joshua fans right now is his anointing water. We get many people stumble upon this site searching Google for ways to get the anointing water. This is being shipped all around the world and supposedly responsible for many healings and deliverances. What this anointing water represents is a dependence on TB Joshua, in place of Jesus. The water is a way of spreading TB Joshua’s anointing, so if it is truly Christ who is the healer, throw away the anointing water!

Finally, consider the title of the official Emmanuel TV blog: “Distance is not a barrier”. Distance from whom? Considering Christians believe that God is Omnipresent, it can’t be referring to God. TB Joshua on the other hand is not omnipresent, he is based in Nigeria and Emmanuel TV is his main vehicle for getting his message across. Now look at the banner image – it is a picture of TB Joshua with his hands raised towards the viewer as if he is praying for them. I think based on these observations it is quite clear that the word distance is referring to distance from TB Joshua. If Jesus is the healer, then distance from TB Joshua is an irrelevant point. It is only if TB Joshua is seen as the healer that this tag line makes any sense.

Unfortunately this kind of idolatry is not uncommon amongst his flock. While it’s not fair to hold TB Joshua responsible for all the views of his followers, there is no evidence that these extreme views are being challenged or refuted by SCOAN. Gareth recounts how someone had a dream that TB Joshua was the younger brother of Jesus (which of course makes him the son of God!), far from being corrected for this seriously errant view, the testimony was filmed and played back to all foreign visitors!

A quick browse through the TB Joshua blogs and you quickly come across some real shockers. For example:

I pledge to TB josua my country.
To be faithful, loyal and honest.
To serve TB josua with all my strenght.
To defend his unity.
To uphold his honour and glory
So help me God. (from here)

Finally, consider the blogs supporting his ministry. TB Joshua Fanclub, TB Joshua Fans, TB Joshua Testimonies… Is not this man an object of worship to his followers?

So to those TB Joshua supporters who hang around here, we’d love to know:

How do you regard the authority of his words?

What do you make of the implication of the anointing water and “Distance is no barrier”? (Don’t reply to this with a list of miracles, we’ve knocked that one on the head in this post, and besides – the false christ in Matthew 24:24 performs great signs and wonders).

What do you make of the fan statements above?

Finally, and most importantly – ask youself what would your relationship with God would be like without TB Joshua? Your answer to that question may well reveal to you whether he has become a false christ in your life.

In the last post, we looked at some particularly disturbing ideas coming from the site “Watch TB Joshua” claiming that TB Joshua is the messiah. In this post, we will write about why we believe that these claims are not the views of an obsessed individual, but actually the exact message TB Joshua himself wants to project.

If you want people to believe you’re the Messiah, do you publicly tell everyone that? Or do you make continuous and subtle suggestions over many years until a decent number of people start making the claim on your behalf? TB Joshua has wisely taken the second option.

The claims of Soe on “Watch TB Joshua” are not uncommon, what is uncommon is how blatant they are. One of the comments highlights this fact as one follower of TB Joshua objects to the claims:

Please stop blaspheming. How can you equate TB Joshua to Jesus Christ. I do not believe you started this debate in good faith. You want to bring controversy around the name of the prophet. I watch his teachings everyday and not once has he implied that he more than a servant of our Lord and savor Jesus Christ.

Then in another comment says:

Let us make our Standard for Life the word of God. Only then will we interpret the bible accurately and stop speculating and insinuating mischevously about who Prophet TB Joshua. Allow the prophet to fulfill his mandate from God i.e. “Redeem and save our generation”

To which Soe (quite rightly) replies:

Isn’t such also the mandate given to the messiah?

Here we see that even someone who reacts negatively to the claim that TB Joshua is the messiah, actually believes the same, she just hasn’t put it in so many words before.

This is not surprising because SCOAN publicity is littered with subtle (and not so subtle) messianic claims, for example – TB Joshua keeping a watchful eye over our planet.

A not so subtle rhetorical question on the front of (what we assume to be) SCOAN’s internal publication (click to enlarge):

Side View magazine

TB Joshua’s anointing water is “for the salvation of your soul”, something only a messiah can do.

Another way of receiving salvation (and blessing and prosperity) is to keep watching Emmanuel TV

Emmanuel TB’s official blog is called “Distance is not a barrier”. Isn’t that stating the obvious given that God is omnipotent? This slogan makes no sense unless we were talking about God in human flesh, i.e. a christ.

A message to SCOAN

It’s not unlike you to issue official press releases to address incorrect rumours. If you genuinely have no intention of giving the impression we’ve described above – you need to clearly and emphatically deny them. Distancing yourself from the blogs in question is not enough, you need to clearly state that TB Joshua is not a messiah* but a human being in as much need of God’s saving grace as any other, and that any claims to the contrary are blasphemy of the highest order.

We await your response, but until then we will be left with no other option than to assume that this is the impression you intend to give.

A message to supporters of TB Joshua, Emmanuel TV and SCOAN

You should pay careful attention to these developments. As you can see from this article, it does seem very clear that SCOAN are implying that TB Joshua is a messiah, even if they have never said it outright. You need to be pressing them for clear answers on this issue.

Recently, we have heard some genuinely amazing statements from TB Joshua supporters. In an exchange in the comments section of this post , regular commenter Ian asked another regular commenter Soe a simple question:

Are you saying that the bible is still being written?

Soe, a committed disciple of TB Joshua, responded with a direct and astonishing answer:

YES!!!

May I ask, who told you that the writing of the bible has stopped?

And who is the person who continued to add to the bible? Why, TB Joshua, of course. Soe continued:

… Don’t be surprised, your great grand children will quote the words of TB Joshua in the same way you quote those of apostle Paul today…

I assure you, that the value of TB Joshua today (however great you think it is now) is nothing compared to what it will be in generations to come, – But this time, the generations yet unborn won’t just have texts and writings, but also video clips of high digital quality. (The major reason for the heavy recording and archiving of the happenings in Scoan).

Soe believes that through TB Joshua, a third testament of scripture is in production, but this one will be released on DVD. This view is far outside the bounds of anything that can be described as Christianity. It supports our belief that SCOAN is a cult which has more in common with Scientology or the Family International than any Christian church. Continue reading →

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matt 24:24)

Most TB Joshua supporters will immediately raise their hackles at the above verse. It has been used against him several times before, most notably in the Deception of the age video. In this post, we will look at several reasons why some may consider TB Joshua a false Christ.

What is a false Christ?

The original greek word used in the verse above is pseudochristos. The first part of the word (pseudo) refers to something that is false, fraudulent, or pretending to be something it is not. The second half (christos) literally means “anointed one”, and gives us the word “Christ”. A false Christ is anyone who takes the place of Christ as a mediator between man and God. The bible tells us “there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). We believers can have a direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we don’t need a priest, a man of God, a deliverer – we have Christ, who is all those things to us and more.

In the following paragraphs we will examine some evidence that we believe shows that TB Joshua’s ministry takes on a “christ like” position in the lives of his followers.

His words are considered equal to the words of God

First of all, have a click through the Emmanuel TV website. It is littered with quotes from TB Joshua (I counted 13), but it has less than half that number of bible verses. The quotes are generally harmless enough, but why the emphasis on TB Joshua’s quotes? There’s not another major ministry we’re aware of that puts such an emphasis on the words of one man to the detriment of scripture.

Ex disciple Gareth reports that “A lot of the time in a disciples life is spent studying his “notes”, that is TB Joshua’s writings. Any visitor to the church will testify to seeing disciples reading and copying out these notes into the early hours of the morning. Disciples regard these notes as equal in authority to the Bible”, Giles talks about the TB Joshua’s “quotable quotes” which disciples are expected to season their speech with. In his sermon “With such power”, TB Joshua himself says “In order to exercise such power, the man of God must be infallible. The baptism of the Holy Spirit gives this infallibility. Whatever he says is always complete and correct; whatever he writes is infallibly accurate.” This view is clearly supported by avid supporter and commenter on this site Soe, who tells us that “every word [TB Joshua] speaks is spirit-filled- and words become Gods word when they are affected by the Holyspirit”. (link)

He is the healer

Before his fans cry out “but he is constantly saying ‘I am not the healer, but I know the healer’”, let’s look at the reality.

The big craze amongst TB Joshua fans right now is his anointing water. We get many people stumble upon this site searching Google for ways to get the anointing water. This is being shipped all around the world and supposedly responsible for many healings and deliverances. What this anointing water represents is a dependence on TB Joshua, in place of Jesus. The water is a way of spreading TB Joshua’s anointing, so if it is truly Christ who is the healer, throw away the anointing water!

Finally, consider the title of the official Emmanuel TV blog: “Distance is not a barrier”. Distance from whom? Considering Christians believe that God is Omnipresent, it can’t be referring to God. TB Joshua on the other hand is not omnipresent, he is based in Nigeria and Emmanuel TV is his main vehicle for getting his message across. Now look at the banner image – it is a picture of TB Joshua with his hands raised towards the viewer as if he is praying for them. I think based on these observations it is quite clear that the word distance is referring to distance from TB Joshua. If Jesus is the healer, then distance from TB Joshua is an irrelevant point. It is only if TB Joshua is seen as the healer that this tag line makes any sense.

Unfortunately this kind of idolatry is not uncommon amongst his flock. While it’s not fair to hold TB Joshua responsible for all the views of his followers, there is no evidence that these extreme views are being challenged or refuted by SCOAN. Gareth recounts how someone had a dream that TB Joshua was the younger brother of Jesus (which of course makes him the son of God!), far from being corrected for this seriously errant view, the testimony was filmed and played back to all foreign visitors!

A quick browse through the TB Joshua blogs and you quickly come across some real shockers. For example:

I pledge to TB josua my country.
To be faithful, loyal and honest.
To serve TB josua with all my strenght.
To defend his unity.
To uphold his honour and glory
So help me God. (from here)

Finally, consider the blogs supporting his ministry. TB Joshua Fanclub, TB Joshua Fans, TB Joshua Testimonies… Is not this man an object of worship to his followers?

So to those TB Joshua supporters who hang around here, we’d love to know:

How do you regard the authority of his words?

What do you make of the implication of the anointing water and “Distance is no barrier”? (Don’t reply to this with a list of miracles, we’ve knocked that one on the head in this post, and besides – the false Christ in Matthew 24:24 performs great signs and wonders).

What do you make of the fan statements above?

Finally, and most importantly – ask youself what would your relationship with God would be like without TB Joshua? Your answer to that question may well reveal to you whether he has become a false Christ in your life.

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